'Autonomy to Hindu temples can accelerate India's economic growth': Tamil Nadu BJP chief Annamalai

Hyderabad: Former IPS officer and Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai had exhorted the need to provide autonomy to the Hindu temples for the acceleration of India's economic growth while abolishing the governing bodies like the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Acts (HR & CE), and emulating the economy of the bigger, autonomous temples.

Speaking at the second day of the International Temples Convention and Expo (ITCX) 2025 on Tuesday in Tirupati, Annamalai spoke about temple economy and autonomy.

“On the other end, young, enthusiastic people are present. They are passionate about taking the temple economy to another level, making sure Sanatana Dharma keeps prospering, and at the same time, rediscovering what we lost and bringing it to the mainstream. At the same time, the elders are guiding us, helping us to rediscover what we have lost over the 250 years, making it a unique gathering,” he said.

The BJP head of Tamil Nadu asserted that the key denominator that connects all the temples is the temple economy. Annamalai stated that the market cap valuation of Tirupati Temple alone is around Rs 2.5 lakh crore, larger than many international and national organisations.

Annamalai presented a critique of how the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Acts (HR & CE) are posing a threat to the economic boost of the temples, and in turn, the economy of the country as a whole. He announced that in the Manifesto of the party, one of the promises is to abolish the HR & CE if NDA comes into power in Tamil Nadu.

“When Lord Venkateshwara gives us the opportunity for the NDA to come to power, we want to remove this illegal act, and free all the 44,121 temples from HR & CE. Imagine the kind of temple economy and money we will generate, helping the schools around the temples run, taking care of the civic infrastructure of a particular city, running engineering schools, and also running the centres for excellence for science. That is the kind of revenue; even if the temples are mismanaged, it can generate,” he added.

Annamalai also went into the history of 'Dharamanomics', underlining the meticulous and complex economic planning that Chola kings executed. Referring to that, he said that these temples can not only be centres for Dharma but also a bridge between the privileged and the underprivileged. Temples are uniting India, reviving the spiritual fraternity that is essential for the sustenance of Sanatana Dharma, he added.